Haggai Begins Temple Building

1 In the ^(A)second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet ^(B)Haggai to ^(C)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^(D)governor of Judah, and to ^(E)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, ² “This is what the Lord of armies ^[a]says: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.”’” ³ Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ⁴ “Is it time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses while this house remains ^(F)desolate?” ⁵ Now then, the Lord of armies says this: “^[b]Consider your ways! ⁶ You have ^(G)sown much, only to ^[c]harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but there is not enough for ^[d]anyone to get warm; and the one who earns, earns wages to put into a money bag full of holes.”

⁷ The Lord of armies says this: “^[e]Consider your ways! ⁸ Go up to the ^[f]mountains, bring wood, and ^(H)rebuild the ^[g]temple, that I may be ^(I)pleased with it and be ^(J)honored,” says the Lord. ⁹ “^(K)You ^[h]start an ambitious project, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I ^(L)blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of armies. “It is because of My house which ^(M)remains desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore, because of you the ^(N)sky has withheld ^[i]its dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. ¹¹ And I called for a ^(O)drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on ^(P)mankind, on cattle, and on ^(Q)all the products of the labor of ^[j]your hands.”

¹² Then ^(R)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and ^(S)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, ^(T)obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, just as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people ^[k](U)showed reverence for the Lord. ¹³ Then Haggai, the ^(V)messenger of the Lord, spoke ^[l]by the commission of the Lord to the people, saying, “‘^(W)I am with you,’ declares the Lord.” ¹⁴ So the Lord stirred up the spirit of ^(X)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^(Y)governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the ^(Z)remnant of the people; and they came and ^(AA)worked on the house of the Lord of armies, their God, ¹⁵ on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.

The Builders Encouraged

2 On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came by ^(AB)Haggai the prophet, saying, ² “Speak now to ^(AC)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^(AD)governor of Judah, and to ^(AE)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the ^(AF)remnant of the people, saying, ³ ‘Who is ^(AG)left among you who saw this ^[m]temple in its ^(AH)former glory? And how do you see it now? ^[n]Does it not seem to you like nothing ^[o]in comparison? ⁴ But now ^[p](AI)take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work; for ^(AJ)I am with you,’ declares the Lord of armies. ⁵ ‘As for the ^[q](AK)promise which I ^[r]made you when you came out of Egypt, ^[s]My ^(AL)Spirit remains in your midst; ^(AM)do not fear!’ ⁶ For this is what the Lord of armies says: ‘^(AN)Once more ^[t]in a ^(AO)little while, I am going to ^(AP)shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. ⁷ I will shake ^(AQ)all the nations; and ^[u]they will come with the ^(AR)wealth of all nations, and I will ^(AS)fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of armies. ⁸ ‘The ^(AT)silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of armies. ⁹ ‘The latter ^(AU)glory of this house will be greater than the ^(AV)former,’ says the Lord of armies, ‘and in this place I will give ^(AW)peace,’ declares the Lord of armies.”

¹⁰ On the ^(AX)twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying, ¹¹ “The Lord of armies says this: ‘^(AY)Now ask the priests for a ^[v]ruling: ¹² If someone carries ^(AZ)holy meat in the ^[w]fold of his garment, and touches bread with ^[x]this fold, or touches cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’” And the priests answered, “No.” ¹³ Then Haggai said, “^(BA)If one who is unclean from a ^[y]corpse touches any of these things, will the latter become unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will become unclean.” ¹⁴ Then Haggai responded and said, “‘^(BB)So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean. ¹⁵ But now, do ^[z](BC)consider from this day ^[aa]onward: before one ^(BD)stone was placed on another in the temple of the Lord, ^16 [ab]from that time when one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, there would be only ten; and when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty ^[ac]measures, there would be only twenty. ¹⁷ I struck you and every work of your hands with ^(BE)scorching wind, mildew, and hail; ^[ad]yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘Do ^[ae](BF)consider from this day ^[af]onward, from the ^(BG)twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the Lord was ^(BH)founded, ^[ag]consider: ¹⁹ Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree, it has not produced fruit. Yet from this day on I will ^(BI)bless you.’”

²⁰ Then the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the ^(BJ)twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, ²¹ “Speak to ^(BK)Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, ‘I am going to ^(BL)shake the heavens and the earth. ²² And I will ^(BM)overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the ^(BN)power of the kingdoms of the ^[ah]nations; and I will ^(BO)overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the ^(BP)horses and their riders will go down, ^(BQ)every one by the sword of another.’ ²³ ‘On that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a ^[ai](BR)signet ring, for ^(BS)I have chosen you,’” declares the Lord of armies.

The Doom of Babylon

17 ^(A)Then one of the ^(B)seven angels who had the ^(C)seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you ^(D)the judgment of the ^(E)great prostitute who ^(F)sits on many waters, ² with whom ^(G)the kings of the earth committed acts of sexual immorality, and ^(H)those who live on the earth ^(I)became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” ³ And ^(J)he carried me away ^[a](K)in the Spirit ^(L)into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a ^(M)scarlet beast, full of ^(N)blasphemous names, having ^(O)seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(P)was clothed in purple and scarlet, and ^[b]adorned with gold, precious ^[c]stones, and pearls, holding in her hand ^(Q)a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her sexual immorality, ⁵ and on her forehead a name was written, ^[d]a ^(R)mystery: “^(S)BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF ^(T)THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with ^(U)the blood of the ^[e]saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered ^[f]greatly. ⁷ And the angel said to me, “Why ^[g]do you wonder? I will tell you the ^(V)mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the ^(W)seven heads and the ten horns.

⁸ “^(X)The beast that you saw ^(Y)was, and is not, and is about to ^(Z)come up out of the ^(AA)abyss and ^[h](AB)go to destruction. And ^(AC)those who live on the earth, ^(AD)whose names have not been written in the book of life ^(AE)from the foundation of the world, will ^(AF)wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and will ^[i]come. ^9 (AG)Here is the mind which has wisdom. The ^(AH)seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sits, ¹⁰ and they are seven ^(AI)kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. ¹¹ The beast which ^(AJ)was, and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he ^(AK)goes to destruction. ¹² The ^(AL)ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast ^(AM)for one hour. ¹³ These have ^(AN)one ^[j]purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

Victory for the Lamb

¹⁴ These will wage ^(AO)war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will ^(AP)overcome them because He is ^(AQ)Lord of lords and ^(AR)King of kings; and ^(AS)those who are with Him are the ^(AT)called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And he *said to me, “The ^(AU)waters which you saw where the prostitute sits are ^(AV)peoples and multitudes, and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And the ^(AW)ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her ^(AX)desolate and ^(AY)naked, and will ^(AZ)eat her flesh and will ^(BA)burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For ^(BB)God has put it in their hearts to execute His ^[k]purpose ^[l]by ^(BC)having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the ^(BD)words of God will be fulfilled. ¹⁸ The woman whom you saw is ^(BE)the great city, which ^[m]reigns over the kings of the earth.”